It was a triumphant return for the controversial "worm" last
night with Channel Nine's coverage of the leaders' debate snaffling
the top spot in Melbourne ratings and third for all programs
nation-wide.

But the "worm" had to wriggle through a political minefield which
included the plug twice being pulled on Nine's direct feed from the
debate, forcing it to take emergency measures.

The ensuing media imbroglio of accusation and counter-accusation is
likely to be dealt with at a special meeting of the board of the
National Press Club, which admitted cutting the direct feed, this
afternoon.

Nine figureheads Laurie Oakes and Ray Martin have both condemned
the actions of the Press Club and the ABC today, with Mr Martin
claiming ABC chief executive Mark Scott had been "screaming'' down
the phone to Channel Nine producers during the
broadcast  a claim Mr Scott denied.

Greens leader Bob Brown has called for a post-election Senate
inquiry into the cutting of the feed, which he believed happened at
the instigation of the Prime Minister's staff.

The 60 Minutes special, hosted by Ray Martin and with a
90-member studio audience of "uncommitted voters'', also rated
highest of the three broadcasters that picked up the debate. Nine
averaged 1.42 million viewers while the ABC averaged 907,000 and
Sky News averaged 62,000.

However, Nine's ratings were slightly down on previous years when
the network traditionally hosted the debate.

The country's highest rating show last night was National Bingo
Night with over 1.56 million people tuning in, followed by
Kath and Kim which was watched by 1.48 million. Nine's
Great Debate came third.

The "worm" is the electronic indicator which reflects the positive
and negative responses of the 90 people to the leaders' points as
the debate progresses.

For most of the debate, it showed Mr Rudd in positive territory,
especially when he talked about his aims to relieve education and
child care costs. Mr Howard did well when he criticised Labor's
unionist-dominated front bench.

Ultimately, the worm gave the debate to Mr Rudd by 65 per cent to
29 per cent, with six per cent undecided.

The Press Club has defended its decision to cut the feed,
saying the network had breached an agreement with the coalition and
the Labor Party not to use the controversial worm to gauge viewer
opinion.

Press Club vice president and veteran political correspondent
Glenn Milne told The Age it was hoped the board could meet
this afternoon to discuss last night's broadcast.

Nine's news chief, John Westacott, insists there was "absolutely no
agreement'' between Nine and the press club over its coverage.

Christopher Warren, national secretary of the Media Entertainment
and Arts Alliance, which represents journalists, said the worm was
a legitimate way for the public to critically engage with
politics.

"To impose those sorts of restrictions on the debate in the first
place is really unacceptable,'' he said.

"The use of the worm is a legitimate critique of Australian
politics. It's part of the political process, it's part of the
people's right to know about what's going on.''

Although it was difficult to know what exactly occurred behind the
scenes of last night's debate, Mr Warren said banning the worm
showed a "disturbing trend'' towards censorship and an acquiescence
by the media towards the will of politicians.

"Media organisations have, generally speaking, been very strongly
opposed to censorship by government but on the other hand they're
sensitive to being criticised by government. And I think this is a
case where some of them allowed their sensitivity to that criticism
overrun their commitment to freedom of information,'' he said.

1192940948751-theage.com.auhttp://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/worm-wriggles-to-top-of-ratings/2007/10/22/1192940948751.htmltheage.com.auThe Age Online2007-10-22Worm wriggles to top of ratingsDewi CookeFederalElection2007FederalElection2007Newshttp://media.theage.com.au/?rid=32593<b>Video</b> The great 'worm' debatevideo/standardhttp://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/rudd-basks-in-worms-glow/2007/10/22/1192940961733.htmlRudd basks in worm's glowtext/html-documenthttp://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/i-didnt-kill-worm-pm/2007/10/22/1192940956744.htmlI didn't kill worm: PMtext/html-documenthttp://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/greens-want-worm-inquiry/2007/10/22/1192940952620.htmlGreens want worm inquirytext/html-documenthttp://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/liberals-sabotaged-worm-nine/2007/10/22/1192940939107.htmlLiberals 'sabotaged' worm: Ninetext/html-documenthttp://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/error-in-labor-tax-policy/2007/10/22/1192940945933.html'Error' in Labor tax policytext/html-documenthttp://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007health/abbotts-24m-breast-cancer-pledge/2007/10/22/1192940940853.htmlAbbott's $24m breast cancer pledgetext/html-documenthttp://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/alp-odds-firm-after-debate/2007/10/22/1192940939110.htmlALP odds firm after debatetext/html-documenthttp://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/youre-a-disgrace-john/2007/10/22/1192940939464.html'You're a disgrace John'text/html-documenthttp://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/rudds-decisive-win/2007/10/21/1192940905644.htmlRudd's decisive wintext/html-documenthttp://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/pm-loses-which-proves-nothing/2007/10/21/1192940905638.htmlPM loses, which proves nothingtext/html-documenthttp://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/pm-weighed-down-by-too-much-baggage/2007/10/21/1192940905647.htmlPM weighed down by too much baggagetext/html-documenthttp://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/idol-thoughts-on-suits-ties-and-a-fats-domino-theory/2007/10/21/1192940905653.htmlIdol thoughts on suits, ties and a Fats Domino theorytext/html-documenthttp://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/what-the-worm-missed/2007/10/21/1192940905650.htmlWhat the worm missedtext/html-documenthttp://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/pesky-worm-gets-nine-into-strife/2007/10/21/1192940909198.htmlPesky worm gets Nine into strifetext/html-documenthttp://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/the-verdict/2007/10/21/1192940906216.htmlThe verdicttext/html-documenthttp://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/rudd-commits-15bn-to-childcare-rebate/2007/10/21/1192940902139.htmlRudd commits $1.5bn to child-care rebatetext/html-documenthttp://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/farmers-call-for-urgent-droughtproofing/2007/10/21/1192940902151.htmlFarmers call for urgent drought-proofingtext/html-documenthttp://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/boost-for-working-parents-will-ease-the-burden/2007/10/21/1192940909534.htmlBoost for working parents will 'ease the burden'text/html-documenthttp://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/big-business-urges-beefed-up-workforce/2007/10/21/1192940902145.htmlBig business urges beefed up workforcetext/html-documenthttp://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/candidate-goes-but-rudd-has-little-detail/2007/10/21/1192940902148.htmlCandidate goes, but Rudd has little detailtext/html-documenthttp://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/liberals-defiant-on-incorrect-union-claims-in-ads/2007/10/21/1192940902142.htmlLiberals defiant on incorrect union claims in adstext/html-documenthttp://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/tax-cutting-jibes-fly-from-both-sides/2007/10/21/1192940902154.htmlTax cutting jibes fly from both sidestext/html-documenthttp://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/in-victoria-a-safe-seat-just-aint-what-it-used-to-be/2007/10/21/1192940902157.htmlIn Victoria, a safe seat just ain't what it used to betext/html-documenthttp://poll.f2.com.au/current.mpl?site=theage<b>Vote</b> Who won?text/html-pollhttp://blogs.theage.com.au/yoursay/archives/2007/10/the_great_worm.html<b>Your say</b> The great (worm) debatetext/html-forumhttp://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/quoteunquote/2007/10/21/1192940907526.htmlQuote/Unquotetext/html-document